Released sailors refuse to return till colleagues freed

"They have decided to express solidarity with their remaining seven colleagues and demanded that they should also be released simultaneously," National Union of Seafarers of India general secretary A.G. Serang told IANS.

Terming it as a "rare act of courage," Serang urged for renewed efforts by Indian and international agencies to secure release of all the hostages, including Indians, in captivity of the pirates.

High-ranking sources at the Directorate-General of Shipping (DGS) here said that they had no information about the current status of the hostage crisis involving Indian sailors and Somali pirates.

An Indian Navy official said that a vessel is giving cover to the pirate vessel where the hostages are being held at a Somali port to ensure that there is no "re-hijack" of the Indian sailors.